A broadcast service provider transmits audio-video streams to a viewer's television. Interactive television systems are capable of displaying text and graphic images in addition to typical audio-video programs. They can also provide a number of services, such as commerce via the television, and other interactive applications to viewers. The interactive television signal can include an interactive portion consisting of application code, data, and signaling information, in addition to audio-video portions. The broadcast service provider can combine any or all of this information into a single signal or several signals for transmission to a receiver connected to the viewer's television or the provider can include only a subset of the information, possibly with resource locators. Such resource locators can be used to indicate alternative sources of interactive and/or audio-video information. For example, the resource locator could take the form of a world wide web universal resource locator (URL).
The television signal is generally compressed prior to transmission and transmitted through typical broadcast media such as cable television (CATV) lines or direct satellite transmission systems. Information referenced by resource locators may be obtained over different media, for example, through an always-on return channel, such as a DOCSIS cable modem.
Currently, TV news is presented linearly to the viewer. Some TV channels present news two or three times a day, while some dedicated channels (such as CNN) deliver news all day long, repeating the information every 15 to 30 minutes. The information is updated regularly, but generally not as quickly as the 15 to 30 minute cycle, and the ability to provide interactive news on demand is constrained by bandwidth limitations.
There exists a need for an improved system and method for providing on-demand interactive video and audio, particularly in the context of interactive news.